Today, the McCaffery family have welcomed the investigative report of the Health Care
Complaints Commission’s (HCCC) investigation, which has found the Australian Vaccination
Network (AVN) provides misleading and inaccurate information to support an anti-
vaccination position.

The 29-page report details how the “AVN provides information that is misleading for the
average reader by inaccurately representing information, selectively reporting information,
and giving non-peer reviewed and anecdotal material the same authority as peer-reviewed
literature. The HCCC found in all cases, the AVN and Ms Dorey were doing so to maintain
an anti-vaccination position.”

The recommendation of the report is that the AVN should include a prominent statement
on its website which states that its purpose is to provide information against vaccination in
order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information
elsewhere. The information should not be read as medical advice and the decision about
whether or not to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health care provider.

These findings are the result of a 12-month investigation into two complaints: one from Mr
Ken McLeod lodged in 22 July 2009, and a second complaint lodged by Toni and David
McCaffery on 16 December 2009.

Toni and David are the parents of Dana McCaffery, who died of Pertussis (Whooping
Cough) at just 4 weeks of age on 9 March 2009, a year with a record 29,000 notifications.
Dana was also one of five babies airlifted from Lismore Base Hospital to the Brisbane
Mater Children's Paediatric intensive care unit with Pertussis over four weeks.

“We allowed NSW Health to confirm Dana’s death on 10 March 2009 in a media release,
because we did not receive one warning about Pertussis or the need for boosters, including
no warning sticker on Dana’s health record. We wanted to warn other parents of how
dangerous this disease is, which killed three babies in Australia last year and is the top
ten causes of paediatric deaths worldwide. In that release, NSW Health announced free
Pertussis boosters for new parents and grandparents of newborns, with the ACT and
Queensland following suit,” said the McCafferys.

The McCafferys released Dana’s photo later that week after seeing comments in media and
blog sites claiming that Dana was ‘just one baby’, and criticisms they had not acted quickly
enough.

“People needed to know how dangerous this disease was, and that it can and does kill 1
in 200 babies. However, this is when the harassment from the AVN started, with Mrs Meryl
Dorey trying to get Dana’s medical records from NSW Health on 12 March 2009—the day
before her funeral,” said the McCafferys.

Within weeks of going public, the McCafferys received letters to their home, emails to a
site dedicated to Dana (www.danamccaffery.com) and posts on Internet blog sites. The
McCafferys became aware of Mr McLeod’s complaint in August 2009 and wrote a letter
to the HCCC in support in September 2009. They decided to make their complaint formal
in December 2009 after nine months of harassment and requests to the AVN to retract
information had been ignored.

“We were so shocked at the vitriol and lunacy over vaccination. Yes the comments are
hurtful, but we objected to the AVN publishing false information about Dana, inferring that
she did not die of Pertussis and that this disease is not dangerous. We feared this would
mislead other parents and expose a vulnerable child to a dangerous and insidious disease.

“The AVN has accused us of running a fear campaign. We call it a reality check. We only
wished someone had warned us of the epidemic. We do not know how Dana became
infected, but we now know that the Northern Rivers of NSW has the lowest rates of
vaccination in the country, and in 2009 had a Pertussis notification rate that was twice the
State’s average. We saw the healthiest, most beautiful baby suffer the most agonising death
– and there was nothing we could do. We will not stand by and let this happen to another
family.

“We respect parents’ rights to making an informed choice and understand they have
concerns over vaccination. But we plead with parents, before you make a decision, please
access factual information on vaccines, and understand how dangerous the diseases are
that they prevent. Stay away from the AVN and be very careful of the Internet,” said the
McCafferys.

The McCafferys have repeated calls to all levels of government to rollout an education
campaign on vaccination and the dangers of diseases such as Pertussis.

Since May last year, three consecutive NSW Health Ministers and the Federal Health
Minister Nicola Roxon have announced a national review of education and prevention
measures, and a national information campaign on immunisation. It has been over 12
months and NSW Heath has confirmed that they have been asked to wait by the Federal
Government. The McCafferys are deeply disappointed by the failure of all governments and
health authorities to take action as promised.

“Diseases like Pertussis are cyclical, and we ask all governments to act. Don’t wait for
another child to die to raise awareness – the price has been too high for us.”